A little more on siding prep

Posted on February 17, 2017

In going over the photos for the trim post, I realized that we never mentioned the black strips that we put over the Blueskin under the siding. This is a product called Cedarvent. It’s basically strips of plastic that are corrugated like cardboard. We’re using it here kind of like a rain screen: the siding repels most of the water from the house, but in case any rain gets behind the siding we want it to be able to drain away. This is where Cedarvent comes in. It makes the siding sit away from the Blueskin by about 3/16″ and allows the water to roll down without soaking into the back of the cedar.

We’re not pushing the product or anything. We purchased it outright and we’re not getting anything from the company for saying that we’re using it. We just think it’s important for people to realize what goes into a wall assembly to make house walls weathertight. This will help the lifespan of the cedar and the Blueskin both. With a bit of an air gap behind the siding, the cedar will dry out more quickly after rainstorms. It won’t be sitting wet on the Blueskin, which could rot if it stays wet for too long over a period of years. If the Blueskin rots, water soaks into the plywood walls and forms mold. And we want our house to last a long time.

Products like this always make me think of how best to make our house eco-friendly. We basically bought bits of plastic, which are not biodegradable, not recycled, and probably are manufactured in a way that’s not great for the environment. They redeem themselves by contributing to the length of time our house will last. So we sort of have to weigh our options here. I don’t know though, what do you think?